ESCONDIDO: ACLU says city's rule may violate free-speech rights

Group plans to conduct Latino voting campaign

Escondido may be violating people's free-speech rights through its special events permit rules, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego and Imperial Counties, which sent a letter to the city attorney Friday after an application for a get-out-the vote event was denied by city officials.

The ACLU said the city rules require that applicants submit permit requests 60 days prior to the event. When the ACLU recently tried to file an application for a Sept. 25 event, a city employee told the group that it was too late to meet the 60-day rule and declined to accept the request, according to the ACLU.

As part of an effort to get more Latinos and other minorities to participate in local elections, the ACLU recently started a campaign called
Nuestro Voto, Nuestro Futuro
, or Our Vote, Our Future.

The Sept. 25 event at Grape Day Park was part of the campaign, officials with the ACLU said. That day was chosen because it is National Voter Registration Day.

"It is ironic that a special event celebrating the essence of America would be denied approval because of an unconstitutional and unnecessary bureaucratic ordinance," said David Loy, legal director for the San Diego ACLU.

Escondido City Manager Clay Phillips did not return a request for comment Monday.

The ordinance amounts to an illegal prior restraint on free speech, Loy said.

In its letter, the ACLU says courts regularly strike down much-shorter advance notice requirements, especially for events involving political speech.

The ACLU letter also says the city should not require a permit unless an event is large enough to generate significant traffic or safety problems. A crowd of 75 people or larger is generally considered large enough to require a permit, the ACLU said, citing 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rulings.

The ACLU has criticized Escondido numerous times in recent years, including over the city's
towing and impounding policies
and its police checkpoints. The ACLU also successfully
sued the city in 2006
to stop Escondido from implementing an ordinance barring landlords from renting to illegal immigrants.

More recently, the ACLU filed a
lawsuit
against the city and the California Highway Patrol over restrictions on anti-checkpoint demonstrators.

The Sept. 25 event, which would include a voter registration drive, was expected to attract about 150 people, according to the ACLU.

Organizers said the Latino voter education and participation campaign was in part a response to city policies, such as the frequent use of checkpoints that critics say disproportionally affect the Latino community.

Latinos make up nearly half of Escondido's 144,000 residents, according to the 2010 Census. However, Latinos made up only about 21 percent ---- 11,952 ---- of the city's 55,361 registered voters, according to the county registrar of voters. Only two Latinos have been elected to the City Council, including Councilwoman Olga Diaz.

The ACLU plans to hold several events and open a campaign office in Escondido over the next several months leading up to the November election and beyond, said Norma Chavez-Peterson, who heads the Nuestro Voto, Nuestro Futuro campaign. The nonpartisan effort focus on educating Latino voters and other people of color about the importance of participating in the electorate, she said.

"I think this is about democracy and making democracy work for everybody," Chavez-Peterson said.

For more information, visit the Nuestro Voto, Nuestro Futuro website on Facebook.

CORRECTION:
This story has been corrected to reflect that the voter registration event at Grape Day Park is set for Sept. 25, and that the ACLU's letter was sent Friday. We apologize.